I’m really enjoying the direction my drawing is going in at the moment. Ive slowed down a lot, taken a few online courses, paused more between portraits and taken the time to think about my process and it’s changed as a result. I’m less worried about likeness and more interested in capturing a sense of the person. I’m really happy with this portrait of Susan because although it’s not a perfect likeness I really feel like I’ve caught her spirit as I see it.
I’m always very nervous when using brush pens to draw with but I do like the strength of the line drawing they produce. It is easy to mess up with them though, fortunately I didn’t with this portrait of Henry from Sktchy.
I love drawing foreshortening and this portrait of Anika from Sktchy is a great example. I drew this on my iPad Pro using the Procreate app and Lisa Bardot’s Texturrific Pastel brushes.
I gave my Bics a workout for this portrait of the amazing Aldebarán from Sktchy. This is much lighter than the very dark inspiration image, but it think it would have looked overworked if I had tried to go much darker and I just liked how it looked at this point.
Can I make a confession here? Although this was inspired by a fantastic photo sometimes I’m drawn to particular muses on Sktchy as much by their names as by how great their photo collection is. I’d never even heard the name Aldebarán before, but I definitely wanted to add it to my portrait collection 🤣
This is Golshid from Sktchy drawn with Pilot Eno mechanical pencils.
This is Ksenia from Sktchy painted with Daniel Smith watercolours and finished with Prismacolor coloured pencils.
My favourite watercolours are Zecchi handmade watercolours that I discovered a few years ago on a trip to Florence. I order them online direct from Italy because I’m in live with the richness of their colours. But most of my painting friends rave about Daniel Smith paints so when I saw some on sale at Jacksons Art last week I decided to try them out. I’ve tried a couple of tubes before but I’ve never painted a whole portrait in them before. I think I like them, but one portrait isn’t really enough to base a judgement on. I’ll decide when I’ve done three or four.
Jenell is, without a doubt, the queen of Sktchy. I’m fairly sure she’s been drawn more than any other muse, a staggering 3104 times at the time of posting, perhaps not so surprising when you learn that she has a gallery of over 1600 amazing inspiration photos.
A good strategy if you don’t know who to draw on any given day is to head over to Jenell’s gallery and you’re sure to find some inspiration. Having said that, it can be intimidating to draw her because you know she’s be drawn many times by the very best and your portrait is likely to be compared with, e.g. Vin Ganapathy’s. So I haven’t drawn her very often. I think this is my third portrait of her and I still haven’t nailed that likeness. Maybe next time.
This is Pattes from Sktchy drawn on my iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil using the Procreate app.
This is Madina from Sktchy drawn with Bic 4 colour ballpoint pens.
I’ve been struggling to find time for drawing and painting this week as my workload increases in the rush to tie up project loose ends before things wind down for the Christmas break. But I’ve managed to paint a watercolour of Mikhayla from Sktchy this afternoon.
I’m partway through a Domestika course on watercolour portraits that I started last week and I can see the improvement in this portrait, the first I’ve done sine starting that course. My washes are lighter and much better controlled. Hopefully I’ll find some time to get back to the course before Christmas!
drawing faces 